The ongoing war in Ukraine and Russia has changed the geopolitical landscape of Eastern Europe and brought enormous human suffering. Although media coverage often focuses on the front lines, the individual soldiers and their lived experiences remain largely invisible. Their personal struggles, moments of doubt and disillusionment reveal the harsh realities of conflict and the extraordinary pressures that ordinary people face in wartime.
Russians at War is a documentary by Anastasia Trofimova that closely follows Russian soldiers from their homes to the front lines in Ukraine. Shot in an observational, fly-on-the-wall cinema vérité style, Trofimova presents the movement of Russian battalions, the chaos of operations, and raw human vulnerability. The soldiers speak openly about their motivations for fighting (from patriotism to sheer necessity) while confronting the physical and psychological consequences of going to war. Fear, loss, and camaraderie reveal the broader realities of the conflict and its devastating Impact on soldiers and their families.
Russians at War offers a human-centred perspective of the Russia-Ukraine war. Premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, it stands as an enduring archive of the lived experiences that define contemporary warfare.